


Armorite Ore

by psychicfiredemoness



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: M/M, Mild Language, Short One Shot, Soft Rock/Heavy Metal Shipping, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 05:46:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26846875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psychicfiredemoness/pseuds/psychicfiredemoness
Summary: Piers had gone to the Isle of Armor in search of inspiration. Instead he found a storm and a bougie stranger. But maybe he isn't all that bad.
Relationships: Nezu | Piers/Tsuwabuki Daigo | Steven Stone
Comments: 6
Kudos: 42





	Armorite Ore

**Author's Note:**

> This ship has sailed away with my soul. I know it's an odd one but I hope you enjoy.

“A deep blue ocean of pain…” Piers muttered as he looked toward the horizon, tapping his pen on the notebook that lay open on his lap. Obstagoon grumbled beside him and nudged a small rubber ball in his direction. “A fat lot of help you are.” Despite the admonishment, Piers grabbed the ball and threw it down the beach, a group of Wingull scattering into the air when Obastagoon charged their way.

Piers turned his attention back out to sea where black clouds had gathered; another few minutes and the storm would be on the beach. The sky above was already gloomy and grey, a chill wind blew across the sand and sent a shiver up his spine. It was the perfect kind of day, the kind that usually bled inspiration onto the page. So why was his notebook a mess of scratched out lines and silly doodles?

Obstagoon was back, nudging the ball against his thigh and Piers threw it again. He let his mind wander and he repeated their game until the first drops of cold rain pelted his face. He closed his notebook and stuffed it into his bag along with Obstagoon’s slobber-soaked ball. He wondered if he could get to the dojo before the worst of the storm was on him; nature was quick to dash his hopes.

Within moments the rain was coming down in sheets, the wind whipping his long hair every which way. Obstagoon dashed ahead towards the safety of Courageous Cavern as lightning illuminated the beach, the loud clap of thunder that followed frightening the pokémon. Chill air blew against Piers’ soaking frame as he entered the cave; it might have been freezing, but at least it was dry.

“Ain’t you the tough guy,” Piers teased his partner, “runnin’ off at the first sign’a thunder.” Obstagoon shook his heavy coat in response, pelting Piers with even more water. He laughed at his friend’s cheeky response. “Come on. Let’s see if we can’t find another way out of here.”

Caves weren’t his favorite. Sure, they kept the elements (especially the harsh heat of the sun) at bay, but the acoustics were terrible and they were easy to get lost in. Even used to the caverns on Isle of Armor as he’d recently become, he would still get turned around. Soon enough his fears were confirmed. He stared back out at the storm from where he had entered only minutes before. Was this what it was like to be Leon, utterly lost every second of every day?

With a resigned sigh he turned back to try again. He would go right instead of left at that first fork in the cave, maybe that would help. The plan seemed to work, this bend in the tunnel not remarkably different from the one he had taken before but enough to know he was walking in a different circle this time.

As the tunnel curved up ahead, he could make out the flickering glow of a fire. Was it someone getting out of the rain, or another sap just as lost as he was? Obstagoon decided to find out first, charging ahead with an excited chuff. Piers chased after his partner, the tunnel opening into a small, vaulted cavern where he saw his pokémon rushing towards a man and a Cufant settled around a small fire. The Cufant trumpeted in alarm and the man looked up from whatever he was stirring in the pot above the flames.

Piers called out to his partner to stop him from barreling into the two, the man ahead reaching for one of the pokéballs on his belt as Obstagoon drew nearer. He was already cold and wet and beyond miserable, and a battle definitely wasn’t on his list of priorities.

Obstagoon stopped just short of the man’s camp, the stranger casting them a curious glance as Piers caught up to his rambunctious pokémon. The stranger rose and headed their way as Piers scolded Obstagoon, the little Cufant trotting behind his partner and hiding behind his legs. An apology was halfway out of Piers’ mouth before he got a good look at the man, and then any words he might have had died on his tongue as a frown twisted his lips.

Whoever this man was he was well-dressed in an expensive, tailored suit that perfectly hugged to a lean frame. An air of superiority lingered around him as he scrutinized Piers and his partner, the Cufant tooting softly as it peeked out from its hiding place. If he had to guess the man was some posh twat from Wyndon– probably one of Rose’s –and definitely lost.

“That’s an Obstagoon isn’t it?” He sounded absolutely delighted with an accent that was hard to place; he sounded like Kabu.

Ok, maybe not from Wyndon, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t from Macro Cosmos; he certainly had one of their signature Steel-types by his side. Or maybe he was some tourist from Hoenn. Either way he was still a bougie git.

“Yeah,” Piers snipped back not wanting to drag out this conversation any longer than he had to. Bougie Git had other plans.

“Incredible,” chirped the stranger. “I wonder what conditions cause such variable evolution from one region to another.”

Obstagoon, the traitor, seemed to enjoy the man’s close attention, only causing him to back away when the pokémon shook his coat and sent water flying at him. Only then did it dawn on this idiot that both Piers and Obstagoon were dripping wet from the storm outside.

“Please,” he began gesturing to his little camp. Obstagoon needed no more than that and ran towards the inviting warmth of the fire. “Please join me, I wouldn’t mind the company.” Piers minded quite a lot, but he relented and settled down on the rocky ground next to his partner.

He wrung what water he could from his hair and tossed his soaking coat down to dry, the heat of the flames a blessed relief to his frozen skin. Before he could react, something draped itself over his shoulders; how charitable of the man to loan him his thick coat. Piers had half a mind to ruin it somehow as he slipped his arms through the sleeves, a little big for him but worlds warmer than his own at the moment.

With his good deed done the foreigner walked to the other side of the fire and checked the pot above the flames. Whatever had been cooking was let off a foul, acrid smoke as soon as he removed the lid. His Cufant let out an unhappy toot and backed away from pot as he took it off the heat before it could burn any more than it already had.

“I’m afraid I can’t offer you two anything warm to eat,” he said with a guilty smile, patting his little partner’s head.

Instead of the ruined dish, he offered the Cufant some dry pokémon food he had pulled from the large pack on his side of the fire. Piers declined when he was offered a protein bar but didn’t stop Obstagoon from gobbling down a good helping of the dried food. He wouldn’t let himself get more indebted to this man than he had to.

Once the pokémon were fed the man settled onto the ground across from Piers, adding a log to the fire though it didn’t look like it would go out any time soon.

“I’m Steven,” the man finally introduced. When Piers didn’t supply his own name, he continued. “I was surprised to hear that the Isle of Armor was accepting visitors. I’ve never been to Galar before–”

“Isle ain’t part of Galar,” Piers corrected. “Mustard owns the whole thing.”

Steven apologized for his mistake, his earlier cheer having dwindled away and left the two of them in silence.

_Maybe_ he was being unfair to this stranger. The man had wealth, that much was clear. Hell, he even had some gaudy little bejeweled pin on the coat he’d covered Piers with. But he had been nothing but kind, if not a little too friendly, since Piers and Obstagoon had stumbled into his camp uninvited. A fancy suit and a Cufant didn’t make this guy Rose. Yeah, he was definitely being unfair. With a heavy sigh Piers relented.

“So,” Piers started awkwardly, “you like Steel-type pokémon?”

Steven positively perked up at the question. The smile he gave was enchanting. Almost. For a bougie git.

“I do,” he began simply enough, but soon turned to a full-blown, fanboyish rant. “That particular texture. Those cool and glowing bodies. When it comes to the solitariness and nobleness you sense through the rugged body, which is almost rebuffing when you hug, nothing comes close–” He caught himself blathering and his grin turned sheepish. “It seems I got carried away.”

His rant had been so warm and genuine, and his enthusiasm so infectious that Piers found himself smiling back. It seemed he wasn’t so bad. He might have even been a little cute. Maybe. Probably not.

Turning the attention from himself, he asked, “Do you have a specialization?”

Piers looked fondly to Obstagoon, who was trying to entice Steven’s timid Cufant into playing a game of chase.

“Dark-types. They get a bad rap most of the time but people don’t really take the time to know them,” he explained. “Take Obstagoon there. He might look like a tough guy but a little thunder and he was runnin’ scared into this cave.”

They shared a laugh and the air seemed to lighten. They continued to talk well into the evening, discussing everything from the mainland of Galar and Steven’s own region, to the Armorite Ore that had brought the man to the Isle in the first place. By the time Piers had dried off it was late, their partners cuddled comfortably against each other as they snoozed near the fire.

Piers slipped out of Steven’s coat and back into his own, making his way around the fire to return the finery to its owner. “We should get goin’. Storm’s probably passed by now.”

“You’re more than welcome to stay the night,” Steven offered.

Piers didn’t miss a beat. “You hittin’ on me, mate?” He joked. Sort of.

He could almost feel the heat radiating off of Steven’s face, the man turning scarlet at the accusation.

“That wasn’t my intention.” That was about right. Sure, they could be friends, but anything else was out of the question. “But I’d certainly like to spend more time with you.”

Shit. Now _he_ was the one turning red.

It wasn’t a good idea. They were from completely different worlds in too many ways to even begin to count. It wasn’t like he expected some upper crust guy like Steven to even give Piers a second thought. Could it even work?

The longer he thought on it the more embarrassed he became, Steven staring at him with such warmth behind his blue eyes that Piers could hardly fathom it. He’d gone with worse ideas, none of which had been even half as appealing as the one he had now. With just a little courage he leaned in towards the man that yes, he would finally admit, was handsome despite his first impression.

Steven dipped his head, his bangs just tickling Piers forehead when everything came to a screeching halt. A loud, booming voice called out across the dark startling the men nearly as much as the pokémon that jumped to attention. Rapid steps approached the pair and the massive silhouette of Raihan came into focus under the firelight.

“Thought that was you, Piers,” Raihan greeted cheerily. His bright eyes briefly fell on Steven before turning back to his colleague. “You lost too? Mind if I stay in your camp just the night?”

Piers crossed his arms defiantly. He didn’t think he had ever wanted to punch his friend more in his life. “Ain’t mine.”

Maybe it was Steven’s good-nature that led him to accepting Raihan into his camp, or maybe Piers had simply read too far into the situation and it was why either Galarian spent the night.

In the morning he was tired, more than usual as Steven led them out of Courageous Cavern with a disturbing efficiency. The storm had moved on sometime in the night, the rain-slicked world outside glittering under the early morning sun. In the distance he could make out Mustard’s dojo and the handful of students already running laps in the fields.

“Thanks for getting us out of there,” Raihan declared taking a deep breath of fresh air. “If you ever find yourself in Hammerlocke we should have a battle. Nothing official of course. I doubt the League would take too kind to that.”

Raihan was headed toward the dojo before Steven could give him an answer. It had been an odd request, but Piers ignored it to follow the man. Steven caught his wrist before he could go more than a few steps.

“I’m staying on the Isle of Armor a few more days before heading towards the Galar mainland,” he explained taking out his phone expectantly. “I’m so glad to have met you and I would love if we could stay in touch. Maybe I could take you out for a coffee.”

Piers returned the request with a small smile and pulled out his own, much older phone. A soft chime told him that Steven had received his trainer card, updated to reflect his status as a trainer. His own phone was taking its time in collecting the data being sent over so he slipped it back into his pocket. He was almost sad to part ways with the man.

“I hope I’ll be seeing you soon, Piers,” Steven confided, quickly brushing his lips over the man’s pale cheek before scampering back into the cavern.

It took time to collect himself and stop the grin that had broken out over his face; he didn’t need Raihan prying and he _would_ pry given half a chance. By the time he reached the dojo his face was back under control and his phone was buzzing from his pocket, a sure sign that he had _finally_ gotten Steven’s card, and more importantly his number. He pulled out his phone to examine the new information.

Raihan crept up behind the lanky man and peered over Piers’ shoulder to see what had stopped him. “The Hoenn Champion gave you his card?” A full pout was evident in Raihan’s voice. “I’m jealous.”

Piers nearly dropped his phone “The _what_?!”


End file.
